Honey Chicken

This is based on a Rachel Ray recipe, but I found it, as usual, to be too light on vegetables and too heavy on other ingredients. I served this over barley because that's what the kiddo wanted and when your three year old asks for barley, you get it to them!   

Honey Chicken

1 tblsp vegetable oil

1/2 package chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks

2 tblsp corn starch, divided
1 white onion, sliced

4 small/medium carrots, sliced

1 large handful green beans

1 tblsp diced fresh ginger

3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

3 tblsp honey

crushed red pepper

1 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper
Heat vegetable oil in wok over high heat. Toss chicken with 1 tblsp cornstarch. Cook chicken over high heat until lightly browned. Add salt and pepper. Add onions and carrots. Cook for two minutes. Add green beans, ginger, and garlic. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Dissolve remaining cornstarch in broth. Add honey, red pepper to taste, and chicken broth. Cook until sauce is thickened and serve over starch of your choosing.

Chicken Marsala

Here's another recipe that comes courtesy of my tenure at Fazzini's. It had been a while since I made it and I spent the entire time I was cooking trying to convince a two year old that I would be done in just a second, so it wasn't my best execution, but it still hit the spot! I served it with a side of pasta with red sauce since there are few things better to do with leftover marsala sauce than to mix it up with pasta and red sauce... Mmm...


Chicken Marsala
1 package chicken breast
1/4 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2 tblsp clarified butter
1/2 container button mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cup marsala wine
1 tblsp butter (optional)
salt and pepper
Melt clarified butter over medium high heat. While the pan is heating, lightly coat each piece of chicken in flour. Place chicken in hot pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side depending on how thick your chicken is cut. Remove from heat when nicely browned and cooked through. Immediately add mushrooms to pan and cook until nicely browned. Deglaze pan with marsala wine. Reduce sauce by half. If you are using butter, remove pan from heat and add butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Poached Chicken

I finally poached chicken that didn't suck! Yay me! I'm sure this is a basic thing to the rest of the world, but I actually gave up on thinking it was a super easy thing and sought advice from the interwebs. Ahh, enlightenment. (Hint - if you're like me, you should know that boiling does not equal poaching. What took me so long to figure this out?) I generally poach chicken that I either am going to use in chicken salad or I'm going to use in soup, but am not ready to use at the moment the chicken needs to be cooked. This chicken cooked here turned into a lovely chicken salad and some chicken and veggies that will be posted later. I understand some people just eat poached chicken because it's low fat. Plain chicken isn't my thing, but hey, to each his own.


Poached Chicken
Enough water to cover your chicken
1/4 onion, cut in large chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed
salt
5-6 peppercorns

1 package chicken breast

Add onion, garlic, salt, and peppercorns to water and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast. Return to boil then reduce to barely a simmer. Cook for approximately 15 minutes (dependent on how thick your chicken breast is - mine was a big hunker). Turn off heat and let chicken stay in water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from water and let rest before cutting.

Grilled Chicken with Basil Sauce

The basil at the community garden was looking awesome this week and, since I've put a hurtin' on mine after a month of putting fresh basil in everything, I grabbed a nice big handful. This was meant to be pesto, but upon further inspection I realized I didn't have pine nuts or parmesan cheese and so I went for a simple basil and tomato sauce. I served this with a side of snap peas. 


Grilled Chicken with Basil Sauce
1 package chicken breast
1 big handful basil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup olive oil (or more for desired thickness)
1 tomato, diced
salt and pepper
Grill chicken. In a small food processor, combine basil, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper until it reaches desired consistency. Stir in diced tomato. Serve over sliced chicken breast.

Super Simple Casserole

I admit it. I totally stole this idea from the woman who runs our community garden. It's super simple and a great way to get the veggies in at dinnertime. Kevin said he liked the casserole so much it must go deep into his ancestry. He had to explain this to me several times, but the gist of it is that he really liked it a lot. I served this with our first fresh tomatoes of the season sprinkled with salt and pepper. Yummy!


Simple Chicken and Veggie Casserole
1 package chicken breast, cooked
1 medium head broccoli
1 small head cauliflower
1 kohlrabi
1 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp chicken seasoning
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup swiss cheese
Blanch veggies. Put chicken and veggies in casserole dish. In separate dish, mix yogurt, mayo, and chicken seasoning to taste. Pour over chicken and veggies and stir to combine. In a separate dish, mix breadcrumbs and cheese. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake in 400 degree oven until top browns and veggies cook to desired tenderness.

Jan's Crock Pot Chicken and Salsa

To be fair, it's Jan's Daughter's Crock Pot Chicken and Salsa, but that just doesn't roll off the tongue. Also to be fair, it's my version of her recipe. Her recipe is also provided below. The only downfall I saw in this recipe is that I was at home while it was cooking. It was really hard to not eat the whole thing before dinnertime. The chicken fell apart and shredded into the rest of the dish and it was awesome!


Jan's Crock Pot Chicken and Salsa
1 package frozen chicken breast
2 cups fresh black beans
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 jar salsa
1 tblsp cumin
salt and pepper
shredded cheddar cheese
brown rice
plain yogurt
Add chicken, beans, water, corn, salsa, cumin, salt, and pepper to crock pot. Cook on low all day. Serve over brown rice topped with cheddar cheese and yogurt. Seriously. That's it.


Original Recipe
1 package chicken breast
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 jar salsa
1 block cream cheese
rice
Add chicken, beans, corn, and salsa to crock pot. Cook on low all day. About 1 hour before eating, add block of cream cheese and stir to combine. Serve over rice. Personally, I'm going to try this one as a dip one day since the inclusion of cream cheese screams dip to me. I think this and a big bag of tortilla chips is in my future!

Chicken with Lemon Butter White Wine Sauce

As you can tell from the name of this recipe, it's going to be pretty straightforward. Any recipe that can list almost every ingredient in the title is bound to be a) really easy to make and b) a crowd pleaser since you're not likely to be serving anything that needs to be picked out or looked at questionably. I would have added capers to this if we had any, which might have detracted from point b with a lot of people, but would be super tasty. I served this with a salad and a side of sauteed broccoli and sugar snap peas. A piece of bread on the side for sopping up the sauce is also a necessary addition in our house.


Chicken with Lemon Butter White Wine Sauce
olive oil
1 package chicken breasts
1/2 cup white wine
juice of one lemon
1 1/2 tblsp butter
salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Brown chicken on both sides and cook to 165. Remove chicken from pan. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add lemon juice and butter and salt and pepper to taste. Once butter is melted, return chicken to pan and let sauce reduce for 3-5 minutes while you take everything else to the table. Remove from heat and serve chicken topped with sauce.

Fajitas

My mom has this fajita marinade that I thought was tasty, but Kevin wasn't crazy about it, so I went in search of a new recipe for marinade. I was quite excited to find that Tyler Florence had a nice one. Too bad I only consulted it once and then just did it from memory hours after I consulted the recipe. I didn't do too bad, but I totally forgot the chipotle, so there was no smoky deliciousness to the fajitas. They were still delicious though, so if you don't like chipotle, leave it out.


Fajitas
1 package chicken breast
1 lb shrimp
juice of two oranges
juice of two limes
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chipotle peppers (if you don't forget them)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
cumin
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 red peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Cut chicken into strips and place chicken and shrimp into two separate sealable (is that a word) containers. Put all ingredients in a blender. Add cumin, salt, and pepper to taste. Add olive oil to desired consistency. I would guess I used about 1/3 cup, but wouldn't swear to it. In the end, you should have about 1 cup of marinade. Divide it between chicken and shrimp. Toss to coat and let marinate in fridge until you're ready to cook. Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet and cook onion and peppers until browned. Remove onion and peppers from the skillet and toss in the meat. Cook until browned and cooked through. Serve on warm tortillas with all your favorite toppings.

Chicken Casserole

I've been trying to get into casseroles to help me get dinner on the table after work. This one was made to prepare for a visit from the Gutberlets and to help stock up my friend's freezer so that she doesn't have to worry about dinner once her new little girl arrives. It's an altered version of the Chicken Casserole in Bake Until Bubbly, which is the best casserole cookbook I've ever looked at. Too bad I have to return it to the library soon... 


Chicken Casserole
6 slices rustic Italian bread, crusts removed and all pieces cut into squares
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 head broccolini, cut into 1/2" chunks
1 1/2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 cup milk
salt and pepper


For the sauce
1 tblsp butter
1 tblsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
Spread the cut up crusts on the bottom of a lightly greased casserole dish and sprinkle with thyme. In a bowl, combine chicken, celery, broccolini, onion, mayo, and salt and pepper. Spread mixture over crusts. Top with cubed crumb of bread. Whisk together egg and milk. Pour mixture over casserole. Let the casserole sit in the fridge overnight.


Right before you cook the casserole, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and cook for a minute. Add chicken stock and milk and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese. Pour mixture over casserole and bake at 400 degrees until browned.

Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

I thought of my dad the entire time I was cooking this meal. He used to love making fun of Bobby Flay and his need to make mango chutney with every meal. I always thought it sounded delicious. I was right. This is the first time I've taken a stab at making a mango salsa myself though. I served this with a side of peas, which probably isn't the best choice of sides, but yo! I love peas!

Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

1 package chicken

salt and pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

cumin

1 mango, cubed

1/3 English cucumber, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

1/2 jalapeno, diced

juice of one lime

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup plain yogurt

Over medium high heat, heat a grill pan. Generously season both sides of chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin and grill. In a bowl, mix mango, cucumber, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and one large handful of chopped cilantro. (I would suggest making this in advance and letting it come together in the fridge for a while.) In a small blender, mix together the yogurt and remaining cilantro. It will get pretty thin. Serve chicken topped with a generous amount of mango salsa and a spoonful of cilantro yogurt drizzled on top.

Chicken with Horseradish Sauce

This recipe was inspired by a Rachel Ray recipe from 365: No Repeats. Without her, I would not use horseradish or mustard nearly as much as I do. Excellent stuff. Her version is a cream sauce, but I'm not crazy about cream sauces, so I scrapped that part. I served it with couscous and edamame, but it would be delicious with noodles, potatoes, anything that can soak up the sauce.

Chicken with Horseradish Sauce
olive oil

1 package chicken breast

1 onion

2 carrots

2 tblsp prepared horseradish

1 tblsp AP flour

2 cups chicken stock or broth

1 tblsp course ground mustard

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in olive oil for 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and cover. In the same pan, add onions, carrots, and horseradish. Cook until lightly browned. Add flour and cook for one minute. Add stock and mustard. Stir well and let sauce thicken. Return chicken to pan to warm while sauce thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

I bought delicious goat cheese at the farm the other day and decided to try my hand at stuffed chicken. Let me tell you one thing right off the bat - make sure your chicken is thawed before you start this. I didn't. It made this much more of a pain than it needed to be. 


I thought spinach and sun dried tomatoes would be a good combination with the goat cheese, but I'm sure there are plenty of other delicious options. Change up the stuffing. The method remains the same.


Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken
2 chicken breasts
handful of goat cheese, cubed or crumbled depending on the consistency of your cheese
handful of spinach, chopped
5 sundried tomatoes (I used the kind that comes packed in oil), chopped


Marsala Sauce
1 tblsp olive oil
1 container chopped mushrooms
2 ounces chicken stock
1 cup marsala wine
1/2 tblsp butter
salt and pepper


Place chicken breasts in between two pieces of waxed paper and pound into thin slices. Salt and pepper chicken. Leaving space around the edges, top the chicken with goat cheese, spinach, and tomatoes. Roll and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes or until chicken reaches 170 degrees.


While the chicken is cooking, prepare the marsala sauce. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and lightly brown the mushrooms. Add chicken stock and marsala wine. Simmer and reduce sauce by about half. Add butter. Taste and season.

Basic Chicken Vegetable Soup

I don't think I made the same chicken vegetable soup twice. What I add varies with what fresh and frozen veggies I have on hand and what I'm in the mood for that day. This is the soup I made for our Christmas Eve party. This one relied pretty heavily on frozen veggies since the farmer's market the Saturday before was closed because of the blizzard of 09! I made this one in the crock pot to make it a little easier. 


Chicken Vegetable Soup
4 tblsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 bay leaves
4 cups homemade turkey stock
1/2 bag frozen carrots
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen okra
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
Crushed red peppers, salt, and pepper
Heat 2 tblsp olive oil over medium heat and sweat onions. Place onions in crock pot. Heat remaining olive oil over medium high heat and brown chicken. It doesn't need to cook through, just get some color on it. Transfer to crock pot. Put all remaining ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for about 1 hour (bring to simmer). Adjust seasoning. Cook on low until ready to serve.

Chicken with Gravy

I based this on Rachel Ray's Chicken with BLT gravy. I made a few substitutions based on what was in my pantry and the fact that I simply refuse to buy tomatoes in the winter. She made it in 15 minutes. I, however, encountered a little issue with my new meat thermometer and ended up taking just a bit longer. 


Chicken with Gravy
4 tblsp olive oil
1 package chicken thighs (Mine were bone in, which led me to need the meat thermometer, which led to this recipe taking longer than expected.)
5 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tblsp flour
1 cup stock (I used beef because that's what I had in the fridge, but chicken would be recommended.)
1 tblsp tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas
2 tblsp heavy cream
3/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper


Split the olive oil between two skillets and heat both over medium high heat. Salt and pepper chicken thighs. In one skillet, place the chicken thighs. Cook on approximately 7 minutes on each side, until the meat reaches 165 degrees. In the other, place the bacon. Brown the bacon. Add the onions and cook until tender. Sprinkle flour over bacon and onions and cook for 1 minute. Add stock, tomato paste, and peas. Stir and bring to simmer. Add heavy cream and stir. Remove from heat. Move the chicken to a serving platter. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the wine to the gravy and mix well. Pour the gravy over the chicken and serve.

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot

Chicken Pot Piiiiiieeee! This is my second favorite comfort food. 'Nuff said.

Chicken Pot Pie

1.5 lbs chicken breast

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 tblsp butter

2 tblsp all purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 bag frozen green beans

1/2 bag frozen corn

1/2 bag frozen peas

1 frozen pie crusts, thawed

salt and pepper

olive oil

Cut chicken breast into bite size pieces and brown in a two count olive oil over medium high heat. Moved cooked chicken breast to baking dish. Lightly brown onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil. Add garlic and stir. Push veggies to the side of the pan and melt butter in skillet. Add flour to butter and cook until light brown. Add stock to pan and stir gravy together with veggies. Add frozen veggies and simmer for five minutes. Add veggies and gravy to chicken in baking dish and mix. Cut and stretch pie crust to cover chicken and veggies. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until crust is brown.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Don't be fooled by the appearance of broccoli in this dish. It should not be filed under heart or waist friendly. In fact, Kevin tasted it and said, "Yumm. This is not good for me." It is delicious and super easy. Many thanks to Jen (and Terry) for the recipe. Send me more! I'm totally in love with casseroles right now.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole
1 head steamed broccoli
1 package chicken breast cooked and cut up (I actually used a half of a leftover rotisserie chicken. The mix of white and dark meat was delicious.)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (Jen's recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but we really like cheese around here and tend to indulge.)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tblsp melted butter
Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange broccoli in an even layer and top with chicken. Mix chicken soup, mayo, and lemon juice in a small bowl. *Top chicken with soup mixture. Top soup mixture with cheese. Mix melted butter and breadcrumbs and then sprinkle on top of cheeses. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

*This is a bit different from Jen's original recipe. I needed to make the baking portion as simple as possible so that my injured husband could take care of it while I was out. Jen's original recipe calls for you to top the casserole with the breadcrumb mixture and then cook for 20 minutes. Then remove the casserole from the oven, sprinkle with cheese, and return to the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Tacos on Crack

To start, big thanks to Jen for this recipe! And, thanks to Jen's mom for giving it to her!

This casserole is all of my favorite things about tacos in the exact right proportions. I have to admit, I went back for seconds despite my no seconds rule. For his part, Kevin stopped himself before he ate the whole casserole. Simple recipe and damned tasty!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole
2 tblsp oil
1 medium onion (I managed to be out of onions this week. Boo.)
4 cup pulled chicken
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
jalapeno
6 whole wheat tortillas (cut into quarters)
1 block monterey jack cheese shredded
(Jen suggests a few other optional ingredients including black beans, spanish rice, or corn)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions (if you aren't an idiot and forget to buy them). Add chicken, tomatoes, tomato sauce, spices, jalapenos, and any other optional ingredients that make you happy. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Layer tortillas, topped with chicken mixture, then cheese. Repeat until you're out of chicken mixture. Mine only made two levels, but rumor has it you can get to three layers. Bake on 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melty and deliciously browned.

Crock Pot Chicken

I've had a crock pot for over a year and never once turned it on, so I actually had to look up a recipe in the owner's manual. Pathetic. I know. So, while I was surprised to find out you can cook a whole chicken in a crock pot, it turns out if you cook the hell out of a chicken for 11 hours while you're at work, the whole thing falls apart. Really, when I tried to take the chicken out of the crock pot, the entire breast came off. But it still got positive results from the boys, which is all that matters.

Crock Pot Chicken
1 3-4 lb chicken
3-4 medium potatoes (I used a mix of white sweet potatoes and russets) cut into large chunks
1 yellow onion cut into large chunks
6-7 cloves garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper
Put chicken, potatoes, onion, and garlic in crock pot. Coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook on low all day.

Mom's Chicken Casserole

Kevin was actually the cook on this one. He made it for friends who just had a baby and then came home and made it for us. This is actually something that I remember my mom making often when I was little. I loved it and asked her to make it for me a few years ago and discovered how easy it is to make! As a parent, I love how easy and inexpensive it is. Plus, Natty loved it!

Mom's Chicken Casserole
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup brown rice
1 envelope onion soup mix

Spray baking dish with Pam. Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle rice in dish. Add water to soup to make two cups liquid. Stir soup into rice. Lay chicken over rice. Sprinkle with one envelope onion soup mix. Cover and bake about 1 hour (or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 170).